When it comes to the Last Night of the Proms, the flag-waving crowd belting out Land of Hope and Glory ensure it is a most British affair.

But elsewhere this year’s BBC Proms line-up will have a distinctly Chinese flavour.

The China Philharmonic Orchestra will make its Proms debut tonight, conducted by Long Yu in a performance billed as “East meets West”.

It is a proud moment for the Chinese. The orchestra was founded in 2000, making it a fledgling by the standards of most international orchestras.

Long Yu grew up during the Cultural Revolution, when Western classical music was banned. He came from a musical family, and can recall the Red Guards turning up at their home and setting fire to sheet music.

But he later won admission to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and, after working in Europe, founded the China Philharmonic in Beijing.

Tonight’s Prom at the Royal Albert Hall will also feature the UK premiere of a work by the Chinese composer Qigang Chen, while a work by his fellow composer Zhou Long will be performed later in the season.

The debuts are a sign that China is become an increasingly important player in the classical world.

Previously, it was best known for producing virtuoso pianists, most famously Lang Lang.

“In China it is a very middle class thing to have an upright piano in the home for all to see, rather like the Victorians in England. It is an emblem of upward mobility ,” said Lady Linda Wong Davies, a philanthropist whose foundation promotes artistic links between Britain and China.

“But we can’t all be Lang Lang, and we can’t unleash on the world all these pianists.

“In a one-child society like China, I feel playing in an orchestra is a very good ay to teach children about integration and teamwork and responsibility.”

Lady Davies has spent the past eight years building connections between the East and West, overcoming the “fascination and fear” between the two cultures.

She said: “The Chinese have a fascination for Western music and a background of Western music. It is patchy because of history and the Cultural Revolution, but nonetheless there is huge demand.

“There we have the basis of understanding Western culture. We can’t say the same for Chinese music outside China, because it is totally alien.

“The fear is because China has closed itself off for so long. But I think the Chinese government, to its credit, realises this. They do believe the world needs to understand more about Chinese culture. But there is 5,000 years of it, and it takes time and people need to get beyond the fear threshold.”

While Chinese musicians and artists perform their works in the UK, a cultural exchange is also taking place in the opposite direction.

Lady Davies has taken a variety of productions to China. They include screening the National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, in Chinese cinemas.

“Everybody thought we were mad. Why bother? It’s such hard work. But it’s important,” she said.

“The biggest surprise was that I thought nobody would know who Benedict was. But when we announced it, the website nearly crashed.”